Motortrend has released some up close photos of Waymo's 6th-generation Robotaxi hardware, which is used on an all-electric RT van from Chinese EV company Zeekr. The van has 10 tiny 3" windshield wipers to clean all the sensors. Waymo confirmed that all the vehicle’s wiper wash spray nozzles draw from a single central reservoir, indicating some complicated ducting beneath the skin to reach the cameras. Waymo's 6th-generation hardware includes: • 13 cameras • 4 lidar • 6 radar • An array of external audio receivers (EARs) Waymo: "Our new sensor suite is optimized for greater performance at a significantly reduced cost, without compromising safety. It provides the Waymo Driver with overlapping fields of view, all around the vehicle, up to 500 meters away, day and night, and in a range of weather conditions." Waymo also told Motortrend: “Supporting each of our sensors are preventive measures—from coatings and heaters to wipers and sprayers—to keep our sensors clean and the Waymo on the road in some of the harshest conditions. We have designed a compressive automated onboard cleaning system, along with a robust cleaning policy that detects and dictates when and how to clean the sensors and under what conditions, all without human intervention.” The company has been testing this sixth generation hardware and the new van on public roads for over a year. The Zeekr RT van is produced exclusively for Waymo. More photos of the exterior, interior and sensors in the thread below:
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